By Leroy Smith

MR KWAME McCoy, who once served as Press and Publicity Officer to former Presidents Donald Ramotar and Bharrat Jagdeo, and three other high profile associates of the now opposition PPP party have been charged with throwing feces on newspaper columnist Freddie Kissoon on May 24, 2010.Kissoon, a fierce critic of PPP governments under Jagdeo and Ramotar, had just come out of a Robb Street supermarket when a man walked up to him and off-loaded a bucket of faeces in his face.

The case had gone cold in the years that followed, but over recent days, the case took a dramatic turn when police picked up McCoy and the two other co-accused, who were placed before the courts on Monday.

McCoy, 40, of 336 Section ‘A’ Great Diamond, East Bank Demerara; former Office of the President staffer Jason Abdulla, 24, of 56 James and Barr Streets, Albouystown Georgetown; and self-confessed death squad member Sean Hinds, 51, of 2548 North Ruimveldt, Georgetown, were charged with common assault. They were each granted $100,000 bail, and are to reappear in court on March 11, 2016.

The court heard that the three men unlawfully assaulted Kissoon at the corner of Robb and Light Street in Georgetown on the day in question.

McCoy stood as the No.1 accused, and Abdulla and Hinds followed as the respective No.2 and No.3 accused. The court heard that McCoy is a communications specialist, Abdulla is a clerk, and Hinds is a businessman.
Hinds’s lawyer did not show up in court, but McCoy and Abdulla were respectively represented by Attorneys-at-Law Latchmi Rahamat and Glenn Hanoman.

In her bail application on behalf of McCoy, Rahamat told the court that her client does communications by profession, does not have any children, has no other matter before the court (although an assault matter is presently being appealed), is therefore not a flight risk and would have no issue with turning up for his court hearings.

The lawyer also indicated to the court that her client went willingly to the police after neighbours had informed him that a vanload of police ranks had visited his Diamond home in search of him. The lawyer expressed surprise that, over a matter of assault, her client had been kept in police custody since Wednesday of last week until his court appearance on Monday, and was even brought to the court shackled hands and feet.

She made reference to this being the second time he had cooperated with the police by making himself available to them after learning that he was of interest to them in connection with an investigation. The first matter had to do with the investigation of the murder of activist Courtney Crum-Ewing last year, when he had gone to meet the police, was questioned, and was sent away on the same day, the attorney recalled.

The court was told it was very suspicious that the man was now being treated this way for a simple assault matter while the investigation in relation to the murder probe last year did not have these hallmarks. The lawyer said McCoy had been detained since 17:30hrs on Wednesday.

And in his bail application on behalf of Abdulla, Attorney Glenn Hanoman pointed to the court that, judging from the support being shown for the virtual complainant at the court on Monday morning, he, along with attorney Rahamat, would prefer that the matter be tried by a judge and jury.

Given the many writings by Kissoon and other considerations, Mr Hanoman wanted to know if the magistrate felt she would be able to judicate the matter in a fair manner.

In her response, Magistrate Judy Latchman explained that she is a very fair magistrate, and that her court is also a fair court. She, however, reminded the lawyer that it was everyone’s right to think that they can adjudicate, but at the end of the day, it remains her job to do so.

The lawyers called for a preliminary inquiry to be held into the matter.

The prosecution did not object to bail being granted the trio, but requested that conditions be attached. Those conditions were that the accused stay away from the virtual complainant, lodge whatever travel documents they have with the police, and report to the police at the Criminal Investigation Department every Monday until conclusion of the trial.

However, McCoy’s lawyer informed the court that her client has since reported to her that he had misplaced his passport while moving from one place to another, and did not have the time to file it as being missing.

The Magistrate then instructed the lawyer that unless her client presents the passport or an affidavit saying it was lost, he would not be released, since the lodging of the document was part of the conditions for bail.

When asked if he had anything to say, Kissoon, who was in court, responded in the negative at first, stating that he feels the prosecution would have covered his grounds. However, shortly afterwards, Kissoon indicated that, on second thought, he wanted to say something in his defence.

He said he is someone who feels very strongly about the freedom of persons, and does not believe in denying persons their freedom. He, however, went on to state that ever since the incident of 2010, he has been fearful for his life, and has been living in fear under the Bharrat Jagdeo government. He described McCoy, Abdulla and Hinds as agents of the state, and reported that he is today still fearful for his life.

On March 11, 2016, the trio would be informed if the matter would continue before the lower court, or if it would be sent to the High Court to be tried by a judge and jury, as requested by the lawyers.

As the accused arrived in the back of a police pickup, there was tremendous anxiety among the dozens of persons who showed up at the Georgetown Magistrates Court to get a glimpse of them.

McCoy and the other two accused were shackled at the feet and hands, and while the two others walked very calmly into the prisoners’ holding area, McCoy repeatedly chanted: “We have degenerated as a society.”

Meanwhile, over the road from the court, a single protester held a placard which read “Jail the three stooges.”